Lightning Must Prioritize Extending Steven Stamkos

With the 2023-24 roster finally taking shape, Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Julien Brisebois is set to work on assembling future rosters for the Bolts.

First, he signed 2022 trade deadline acquisition Brandon Hagel to an eight-year contract extension with a $6.5 million AAV. That won’t kick in until the 2024-25 season. He then inked defenseman Darren Raddysh to a two-year extension worth an AAV of $975,000.

Next up for the Lightning and Brisebois would be to extend captain Steven Stamkos. Considering his age and past injury history, a team-friendly two- or three-year deal should work. Stamkos also made it clear following last season’s first-round playoff loss that he wants to retire as a Bolt.

A 2008 first-overall draft pick, Stamkos struggled in his rookie season before breaking out during a sophomore season that saw him tie Sidney Crosby for the league lead of 51 goals. He then went on to score 60 goals a couple of seasons later.

The next few seasons were spent battling injuries. Through it all, Stamkos worked hard to return. He had to reinvent himself as a player, at times moving to the wing as opposed to playing his natural center position and setting up teammates to score when the opportunity presents itself.

That type of dedication led to the Lightning signing Stamkos to a long-term, eight-year contract extension in late June of 2016, two days prior to becoming an unrestricted free agent. After signing the deal, he stated his desire to win a Stanley Cup with the team that drafted him as the main reason he took a minor pay cut to stick around in Tampa Bay.

His decision to stick around paid off in a big way. He led the Lightning to two straight Stanley Cups. In 2020, Stamkos only saw two and a half minutes of ice time all playoffs due to injury but still left his mark by scoring on his only shift of the Cup Finals versus the Dallas Stars. He then helped lead the Bolts to capture the 2021 Cup and a trip to the 2022 Cup Finals before falling short to the Colorado Avalanche.

Last season, Stamkos reached four major milestones. He reached 500 assists, 1,000 points, 500 goals, and 1,000 games played all during the 2022-23 season. That contributed to him winning the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award.

Stamkos is now one year away from becoming an unrestricted free agent. After losing key pieces in Ondrej Palat and Alex Killorn to free agency during the past two offseasons, the Lightning can’t afford to lose their captain and team leader to another team unnecessarily.

While the Lightning have salary cap issues, Brisebois should have enough money to extend Stamkos and sign other free agents next summer, given the cap is set to go up. The bottom line, if the team wants to remain competitive in the stacked Eastern Conference and Atlantic Division, they need Stamkos in the fold until he can’t play at a high level anymore.